Touches That Heal
by SereneCalamity
Summary: Erik ends up getting into some trouble when out in town, and wakes up Charles when he comes back home. Cherik. Oneshot.


_I love these two so muuuuch. Haven't written them in a while, so here we are!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters._

Charles Xavier was woken up to the sound of someone banging in the bathroom and swearing. His whole body froze for a moment, wondering if someone had broken in, but then he stretched out and felt that the bed beside him was cold and empty, and after listening for a moment longer, he realized that the swearing was in very distinctive German. He sighed, picking up his phone from the bedside table and saw that it was nearly four in the morning. Heaving out another long suffering sigh, he got out of bed, padding out of the bedroom and down the hall, toward the bathroom.

" _Hurensohn_ ," Erik Lensherr growled under his breath. "If I ever see him again, I'll fucking—"

"Erik?" Charles blinked as he came into the bathroom, rubbing a hand over his eyes as he adjusted to the light. Erik had only turned the heating light on, so it was nowhere near as bright as the normal light, but it was still bright, and Charles was blind for a moment before he finally managed to see Erik probably, and then his eyes flew open wide. "Holy shit! Erik! What the hell happened to your face?"

"It's nothing—I'm fine," Erik began but Charles was already stepping closer, his eyes flickering over the blood crusting under his nose, the split skin under his eye, the bruising on his cheek and the tears in his clothes.

"What the hell happened?!" Charles cried as he quickly crossed over to where Erik was standing by the bathroom vanity, reaching out to put his hands on either side of Erik's neck, his thumbs carefully brushing along his jawline. After a moment, his eyes rolled back into his head and he sighed. "What did you do? Who did you piss off?"

"Hey!" Erik protested.

"Don't try to run that shit with me," Charles had an affectionate, long-suffering look on his face, clearly used to his boyfriends antics. "You have a way at pissing people off, rubbing them the wrong way, annoying the hell out of them—"

"Okay, okay, thanks for that," Erik rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath. "Actually, this one is on a certain blonde that I went out with..." he raised his eyebrows pointedly at Charles, and the shorter man winced, although he wasn't surprised at all that his adopted sister, Raven Darkholme, was the one dragging Erik into trouble. The pair really shouldn't be allowed out without a supervisor. "She was hitting on some guy, who had a very...Masculine looking girlfriend—"

"A _girl_ did this to you?!" Charles snorted.

"No," Erik looked affronted, and Charles grinned, although he still felt an ache at the bruises and cuts on Erik's face. "It was her boyfriend. Raven took on the girlfriend, and I ended up with the guy."

"Raven took on the—" Charles' eyes went wide and he shook his head, one hand going to his hair and threading through the long strands. "Oh my god," he muttered. "This is why you two shouldn't be allowed out, drinking without an adult on there." Erik narrowed his eyes at that but Charles just raised his eyebrows. "I really don't think you're in any position to argue with that statement right now." Erik didn't look happy, but he didn't argue. "Alright, let's...Let's get you cleaned up," Charles sighed and nodded out the door, toward their kitchen, where their pokey little table was. "I'll go and get the first aid kit." Erik nodded, a bit sullenly.

"Fine," he muttered, walking over to the table and sitting down. The chair creaked underneath him as he made himself comfortable. Charles knelt down to fumble around in the cupboard under the sink and found the poor excuse of what they called a first aid kit. They were students, both of them were broke and could barely afford to pay rent, drink cheap beer and eat two minute noodles, muchless stock a first aid kit, but it would have to do. When he came into the kitchen, he turned on the tiny lamp that was propped up on the cluttered wooden bench.

"You're going to have an impressive shiner in the morning," Charles stated as he came to stand beside Erik. "Or, at least..." he glanced over at the gaudy red clock on the wall. "Later on in the morning, when it's actually daylight."

"It'll be fine," Erik muttered, trying to play the tough guy.

"What does my sister look like?" Charles asked he squeeze some arnica onto his finger and wasn't gentle about rubbing it on the tender skin under his eye. Erik winced and glared at his boyfriend but didn't pull away.

"I think she got a couple of scratches and shit, but you know Raven, she always manages to get out on top," Erik stated.

"Well, from what I know of you, you usually come out on top as well," Charles pointed out as he ripped open an antiseptic wipe and—this time—much more gently began to dap it against the blood that was crusting in the corner of Erik's mouth.

"I was a couple of bourbons in," Erik admitted with a roll of his eyes. "Plus, he got in a right hook before I even realized what was happening, and that kind of caught me off guard." Charles was nodding along, listening to the story, before he shook his head. Erik stopped talking, pressing his lips together as his boyfriend cleaned off his face. Silence fell for a long few minutes as Charles also cleaned his neck, and then hooked a finger under the collar of his shirt and sighed, muttering something about how he would soak the shirt when he woke up at a more reasonable hour. Erik pulled his head back and Charles frowned.

"Sorry if I'm pressing too hard," he murmured, his accent coming through, given how tired he was, and Erik was struck again by how adorable he was.

"No," Erik stated, reaching out and gripping Charles' hands. " _I'm_ sorry," he said. "I didn't mean for this to happen." Charles tried to bat Erik's hands away and re-focus on Erik's injuries, but Erik wouldn't let him. " _Engel_ ," Erik murmured. "I'm sorry." Charles finally met his eyes. "I know that you have a big exam tomorrow— _today_ —and that was why you didn't want to come out with us. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"It's okay," Charles assured Erik softly.

"You're too good to me," Erik whispered, leaning in closer to the brunette man.

"Eh," Charles shrugged with an off-handed smile as he gently lifted a hand to trace a finger down from Erik's temple to the uninjured side of his lip. "You're good at making waffles, plus I don't think anyone else would be okay with me reciting English literature in my sleep after I've been studying too hard." Erik smiled widely, and then winced as his lips stretched. Charles leaned forward and gave him a brief kiss. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up, and then we can get up to bed, and I'll try and get a few hours to sleep before my exam." He lifted his hand again, to begin cleaning a cut on Erik's cheek but he ducked away once more.

"Wait, wait—just one more of those healing kisses," Erik gave Charles a slightly goofy smile and tapped his mouth. Charles rolled his eyes, but leaned in again, giving Erik another kiss, a lot shorter that Erik hoped for, but good enough for now.

"Now stay still," Charles told Erik, trying to be stern. Erik just smiled, despite the stinging from the cuts on his face, knowing that he was in good hands.

 _Let me know what you think :)_


End file.
